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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24903778">Missing Graduation was worth it for something like this</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/tabbykats/pseuds/tabbykats'>tabbykats</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Voltron: Legendary Defender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Mortal, Attempt at Humor, Concussions, Fluff, Graduation, High School, Hospitalization, Humor, Implied Relationships, Keith &amp; Lance (Voltron) Friendship, Light Angst, M/M, Party</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 01:06:59</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,992</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24903778</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/tabbykats/pseuds/tabbykats</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Keith wakes up in a hospital bed with Lance by his side. He learns of some bad news but luckily, his friends and family have his back. </p><p>This is a normal/mortal AU. Keith, Lance, Pidge and Hunk have just graduated from high school.<br/>Rated T for a few curse words</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hunk &amp; Keith (Voltron), Hunk &amp; Pidge | Katie Holt, Keith &amp; Lance (Voltron), Keith &amp; Pidge | Katie Holt, Keith &amp; Shiro (Voltron), Keith/Lance (Voltron)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>30</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Missing Graduation was worth it for something like this</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Yes, I did write this because I was not able to see my friends walk the stage.<br/>I'm from a part of England where high school graduation is unheard of so I didn't really care when I found out we won't be having a graduation ceremony due to Corona. That wasn't the same for my friends who had been waiting their whole lives to walk the stage. This fic is dedicated to them.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Keith felt his head pound while he tossed and turned. He opened his eyes to see the stark white of what could only be a hospital room. He groaned, rolling back into the sheets. He was planning on falling asleep when a shaky voice spoke. “Keith?” Keith rolled over to see Lance’s blue eyes staring back at him. The boy’s frown turned to an instant smile.<br/>
“Hey, buddy, how ya been.” Keith tried to avoid rolling his eyes as his head was already aching. His face seemed to have gotten the message across easily enough though. Lance chuckled.<br/>
“Not a morning person, okay.” Keith furrowed his brows but before he could ask the question that was weighing down on his mind, a nurse walked into the room.<br/>
“He’s in here,” she said before making way for Shiro to rush inside. Wrapped in Shiro’s arms was Keith’s jacket, his 3DS and what looked like a bag filled with containers. </p><p>“Keith! I can’t believe you! Krolia has been worried sick about you!” Keith chuckled.<br/>
“Yeah right, she wasn’t the one to send the food though was she?” Keith gestured to the amass of containers stuffed into a single plastic bag.<br/>
“Well no but she was upset.” Keith grinned, gladly taking the bag from Shiro.<br/>
“Probably because I wasn’t there to do the dishes after school.”</p><p>Keith opened the bag to find it filled with all sorts of Japanese food only Shiro’s mother would make. Tamagoyaki, Takoyaki, onigiri, and some sliced melon. He smelled it, taking it all in. </p><p>“Your mom makes the best food Shiro.” Shiro took a seat beside Lance.<br/>
“What is all that stuff?” Lance questioned. Shiro took a piece of Takoyaki and handed it to Lance.<br/>
“Try it, it’s not poisoned I swear.” Lance was hesitant but he accepted the weird ball-shaped thing. Keith and Shiro watched as Lance ate it. With a full mouth, Lance’s eyes twinkled.<br/>
“It’s good!” Keith chuckled.<br/>
“It’s an octopus ball.” Lance’s face immediately soured but he swallowed the rest of it anyway. Keith went to take a bite of the food himself. It tasted like home. Yeah, it was a struggle to get used to Shiro’s mom’s cultural cooking, having eaten burgers and pancakes for the majority of his life but it did taste way better than whatever Krolia came up with. </p><p>“Oh, Keith! I got you something else as well!” From his jacket, Shiro pulled out a box adorned with pandas. Keith gasped.<br/>
“No way! I’ve been looking for these for forever! I can never find them in American stores!” Shiro pulled back the cardboard lid and handed it over to Keith.<br/>
“Yeah well, that’s cause they’re only sold at the Asian marts. Mom found them when she went fish shopping the other day.” Keith grimaced.<br/>
“Did it smell?” Shiro nodded, a sick expression on his face.<br/>
“Don’t ever say I don’t love you, Keith.” Keith handed one over to Lance.<br/>
It’s just a biscuit, it has chocolate on the inside. Lance nodded. He took time to admire the cute panda printed on the biscuit before taking a bite. Keith followed his example. </p><p>“Ugh, they’re stale.” Shiro snickered.<br/>
“Well, what do you expect? They were probably shipped from Japan.”  Keith ate a few more anyway before putting the box down.</p><p>Something wasn’t sitting right with him and he didn’t think it was the takoyaki and biscuits. </p><p>“What’s with all the gifts anyway?” Lance’s and Shiro’s faces paled.<br/>
“Well Keith, what’s the last thing you remember?” Keith thought back.</p><p>He remembered it being Monday morning. He remembered how he slipped on a sheet of paper in the hallway right near the stairwell. He remembered tumbling down the stairs before blacking out. He said as much to Lance and Shiro. </p><p>Lance was the one to speak up since Shiro remained quiet.</p><p>“You remember how our graduation was on Thursday right?”. Keith felt his gut drop. He leaped out of bed and scrambled across to Shiro. Though his head was spinning, he needed answers.</p><p>What day is it?” Shiro hesitated. “Shiro! What day is it?!” Reluctantly, Shiro answered.<br/>
“It’s Friday morning Keith. I’m sorry but you missed it.” Keith sank back against the pillows. He normally wasn’t one to care for great big ceremonies, that was Lance’s role but he at least wanted to celebrate with his friends.</p><p>“I’m sorry Keith but you got a concussion and you needed to be monitored.” Keith let out a deep sigh. </p><p>“So it’s over? I’m finally done with school.” The other two stayed silent. Keith wanted to laugh at the absurdity of the situation. He’d finally escaped hell but he had wanted to see his friends running alongside him, walking beside him on the stage. Honestly, Keith didn’t know what to feel. Was he upset cause he missed it? Was he relieved because he didn’t have to go? Happy that he had graduated or angry because he didn’t get the chance to see his friends walk the stage?</p><p>His head was hung low when he was finally able to speak.<br/>
“At least everyone else got to walk the stage.” Lance shook his head.<br/>
“No Keith, we didn’t. We couldn’t without you.” Before Keith could say anything more, a loud crash sounded just outside the hospital room. Then, the door blew open to uncover a disheveled Hunk trying to capture a gremlin Pidge. </p><p>“Keith!” Pidge was jumping onto the bed and sweeping Keith into a hug. Hunk following right after.<br/>
“You’re okay!” she exclaimed all while Shiro was trying to pull her off.<br/>
“Careful Pidge, he got a concussion from the fall”. Pidge let go, sniggering.<br/>
“You’re such a dumbass sometimes Keith”.<br/>
“Language” Shiro exclaimed. Pidge crawled off the bed, giving room for Hunk.  </p><p>“Shiro mentioned he was already bringing you food but I thought you might like a dairy and gluten-free cupcake”. Keith beamed at Hunk, glad to accept the rare delicacy.</p><p>“Lance said you guys didn’t walk the stage. Why?”. They both grinned at him.<br/>
“How could we without you?” Hunk said. Pidge chirped in.<br/>
“Yeah, you have to be there to watch me trip Lance up on stage”.<br/>
“W-wha- hey!”. The entire room burst into a fit of giggles.<br/>
“Thank you guys but you really didn’t have to do that for me”. Keith felt a weight on his shoulder and turned to find Lance.<br/>
“No, we did. This group is nothing without you, Keith. We suffered together, we’re gonna walk the stage together”. Keith smirked.<br/>
“For a while, I didn’t think you’d be graduating sharpshooter”. Keith dodged Lance’s blow, giggling to himself.</p><p>Just then, Matt came stumbling into the room moments after. His clothes were torn and he was panting up a storm.<br/>
“I’m so sorry Shiro, I tried to hold them back but they set Rover on me!” Shiro gave Matt a glare before returning to Keith’s face, stuffed with cupcake.<br/>
Keith scarfed down the remaining piece of the cupcake before addressing Matt.<br/>
“Is Allura gonna barge in as well?” Matt smiled sheepishly just as another loud bang came from outside of the hospital room.<br/>
A heavy British accent yelled some well-chosen curse words before a white-haired beauty stumbled into the room. From behind Allura, a nurse yelled something about too many visitors before the door was promptly shut in her face.<br/>
“Honestly, the people here can be so rude.” Keith beamed.<br/>
“Nice of you to join the gathering Allura,”  Allura smirked.<br/>
“This is no gathering Keith Kogane”. </p><p>“THIS. Is a gathering!”.<br/>
The brightness of the lanterns hanging from their trees reflected in Keith’s eyes. It was a wonderful display. From the overhanging trees adorned with decorations to the brightly lit stage and picnic tables surrounding it. Everyone was there. His friends, their families, even some of their classmates. </p><p>“You like it Keith?” came Lance’s voice.<br/>
“It’s amazing," Keith said in awe. Lance gave him a smug look, folding his arms behind his head.<br/>
“Yeah, it was all my idea,” Keith smirked.<br/>
“Yeah, right. There’s no way in hell your dumbass came up with all of this.” Allura butted in.<br/>
“Actually Keith, it was Lance’s idea. He wanted everything to be perfect just for you cause he knew how important it was to you.” Keith’s jaw dropped in shock. He turned to Lance.<br/>
“Lance is that true?” But a platter of food was promptly shoved in his face.<br/>
“Try them as a thank you for letting me have your food when we were in the hospital.” Lance held up a platter of what looked like bread rolls. Keith took one and bit into it. A swirl of flavour filled his mouth. It was delicious.<br/>
“What are these?” he practically yelled. Lance laughed at his reaction.<br/>
“Garlic knots, I had my Ma make some for the gathering.” Keith took another bite, savouring the way it melted on his tongue but then he felt something cold creep up the back of his neck.<br/>
“Are these-”<br/>
“Yep, they are gluten and dairy-free so no need to worry.” Keith smiled.<br/>
“Thank you, Lance.” Lance avoided his gaze, opting to grab his wrist instead.<br/>
“C’mon, we have to get you ready.” Keith’s brows furrowed.<br/>
“Get me ready for what?” </p><p>Lance dragged him away, a firm but comfortable grip on his wrist as they headed towards an enclosed area. There, he saw Krolia, Pidge and Hunk.<br/>
A black bag was handed to him, the contents being a white cap and gown. He cautiously pulled them from the bag, his hands shaking slightly. </p><p>“W-what is this?” Krolia was the one to answer. She hugged her Son tightly and kissed the top of his head.<br/>
“Congratulations Keith, I’m so proud of you and I know your Father is too.” Keith rubbed at his eyes, returning his mother’s embrace.<br/>
“Hurry up and put it on Keith! We have a stage ahead of us!” </p><p>Laughing along with his friends, Keith fitted the gown over his shirt but he needed his mother’s help with the cap.<br/>
As soon as they were done, Lance was tugging on the end of his gown.<br/>
“C’mon Keith, we’ll be on stage in a few minutes!” Keith chuckled, following his friend’s lead. </p><p>He felt like he was high above the world and yet he felt nostalgic in a way. He beamed at his friends as he ran behind them. He saw flashes of old memories fill his mind. Movie nights and morning rituals. Naruto running in the hallways and sneaking food into classrooms. Cheating on tests and trying to hold in his laughter during group presentations. He hated to admit it but some aspects of high school, he was gonna miss. </p><p>Up on the stage, a banner was held out for the four of them and they all ran through it, cheering. Their families amongst the crowd were clapping and smiling brightly up at them. </p><p>He’d done it. He’d accomplished yet another phase of his life. After his Dad passed, Keith didn’t think he’d ever feel this happy again but he was so incredibly wrong. He was happy when Shiro and his family took him in. he was happy when he trained and studied with his brother and Matt. He was happy when he met Krolia. When he and Pidge stayed up late at night Mothman hunting. He was happy when Hunk made him gluten and dairy-free foods. When Lance smiled warmly at him just like he did now. </p><p>Suddenly, the world was falling though Keith didn’t know if that was such a bad thing. Lance was on top of him and looking him deep in the eyes. His hair was a mess and his face a deep red, all the way to the tips of his ears. Keith didn’t push him away. They were on stage in front of everyone but that didn’t stop him. He felt tears swell in his eyes but still, he drove on. He held Lance close to him and whispered a “Thank You” only Lance could hear.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>The reason why I made Keith unable to have gluten and dairy was because I can't have it. If I can't have it then neither can the character everyone keeps comparing me too. </p><p>Anyway, I hope you guys liked the fic and please leave a comment. I love reading them.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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